Practice at Home

There are always skills that your child can practice at home.  These skills include:

• making words (start with a word your child can spell and then have them change a beginning, middle or ending sound to create new words...i.e. shop...change sh to ch and what is the new word?...change the /o/ to /i/ and what do you have now...and so forth)

• high frequency word cards from the container of words you are keeping each week they are sent home (identify words or create sentences with words), 

• reading (it is beneficial for both children to be read to and to read themselves working on building fluency and comprehension so be sure to ask questions about what is being read)

• number sense (counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s as well as counting on or back from any given number)

• addition and subtraction math facts (using flash cards, Moby Max math facts)

• handwriting - letters, names, numbers (encourage your child to form letters/numbers top down...refer to the letter formation page under classroom information...frequently asked questions)

• writing (encourage your child to write 3-4 sentences on a given topic...be sure to have your child check for capital letters, punctuation, sentences that make sense, etc.)

Phonics Skills covered as of February 18, 2026:

• cat/kite rule - use c when you hear the /k/ sound if followed by a, o, u; use k when followed by e, i (i.e. can, cot, cup, kit, keep)

• short vowels - words with consonant- vowel - consonant (CVC), CCVC, CVCC, CCVCC are short vowels (i.e. mat, blob, list, snack)

• digraphs - sh, ch, th, wh, ph (i.e. shop, chin, think, whisk, graph)

• long vowel - a_e, i_e, o_e, u_e, e_e  (i.e. snake, bride, spoke, June, here)

• beginning l, r, s blends - bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl, br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr, sc, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, sw (i.e. black, green, swim, etc)

• ending blends - (i.e. fact, milk, melt, shelf, fast, crept, etc)

• Floss Rule - double the consonant when short vowel, 1 syllable word ending in f, l, s, z (i.e. stuff, doll, pass, buzz)

• tch - use tch at the end when short vowel, 1 syllable word ending in ch (i.e. match, fetch, pitch, blotch, except for rich, much, such)

• nch (i.e. lunch, bench, pinch)

• introduced soft c & g for reading (when c or ge is followed by e, i, y...it makes the soft sound (/s/, /j/)

• y as a vowel - long i sound at end of a word with 1 syllable (fly, my, try); long e sound at the end of 2 syllable word (baby, happy)

Angela Thayer @ teachingmama.org offers these great literacy games below to play at home, in the car, etc.